Scott Young - Homeless

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  • Scott Young's first vinyl release was on Stockholm's Born Free label, and he appears to live up to the name. He's spent time in Hong Kong and Berlin, and last year's EP as Satin Doll was "compiled from [a] backup drive on a beat-up computer in the Hostel Wonderland, Bucharest." That release ranged from bleary electronica to acrid EBM techno; his Born Free single paired an aggro drum track with waterlogged dub house and ambient. In true backpacker style, Young spends enough time with a given style to get the flavour before moving on. As demonstrated on the aptly titled Homeless, this restlessness prevents deep engagement with any one sound, but it also takes his music to some surprising places. "No Return To The Jive" starts out as slamming disco house, its sprightly horns-and-vox sample pulverised by a cone-melting kick drum. Then it all slides abruptly out of view, replaced by rickety percussion loops and what sounds like a tape-warped kalimba loop in an unrelated key. It's as if we've wound up in another track entirely, without hope of returning to the jive. On the B-side, "Homeless" is a tottering dub track, its booming drums and vocal samples lashed with dub sirens. It doesn't pull the same switch-up as the A-side, but it also never fully settles into a comfortable groove. Young navigates through genres stylishly, but he's still looking for a place to lay his head.
  • Tracklist
      A No Return To The Jive B Homeless
RA